<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Afternoon Rain by LadyMcKinnonKing</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28225497">Afternoon Rain</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMcKinnonKing/pseuds/LadyMcKinnonKing'>LadyMcKinnonKing</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Advent Calendar, Kindred Spirits, Kindred Spirits Advent Calendar, M/M, christmas drabble</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:40:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>762</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28225497</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMcKinnonKing/pseuds/LadyMcKinnonKing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Day Twenty-One of the Kindred Spirits Advent Calendar - Cole and Miller get a spot of tea (biscuits too!)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cole Mackenzie/Original Male Character(s), Josephine Barry &amp; Cole MacKenzie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Kindred Spirits Advent Calendar</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Afternoon Rain</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cole found the invitation at his place setting on Thursday evening.  Elegant writing on ivory card stock, its message was simple.  It still gave him a thrill to read it.</p><p>
  <i>Mr. M. Ridley requests the pleasure of Mr. C. Mackenzie’s company at tea on Saturday, the 24th of December, at four o'clock, Royal Oak Tea Room, Charlottetown, PEI.</i>
</p><p>Rollings could not hold his amusement in any longer. He was glad to see Cole making friends and getting out of the house.  “You need to answer this invitation tonight.  Josephine will help you craft the correct response, and I will make sure it gets back to your friend promptly.”</p><p>Cole let out a sigh of relief.  Things like this were still beyond a simple farm-boy’s experience. He had learned much in his time with Aunt Jo, but there were still areas of society he was not quite fluent in navigating, in this society so different from his upbringing.</p><p>“Thank you, Rollings.  It's your kindness that helps me not look uncivilized with these people.”</p><p>“Nonsense!” Short and sharp in tone, his meaning was clear.  “You are no country bumpkin, simply a young man who has not been shown the way of being in his world. We are here to guide your own instincts.”  Jo entered the room and motioned for Cole to sit.  “I thought you were going to meet last week after your class?”</p><p>
It never happened.  Cole was not sure why, but he wrote it off as Miller coming to his senses, deciding a farm-boy was beneath him.  It appears it was not his farm boy status after all. An afternoon of tea should prove both interesting and informative.</p><p>Later that evening Rollings delivered the reply to Green Manor.</p><p>
  <i>Mr. C. Mackenzie has much pleasure in accepting Mr. M. Ridley’s invitation to tea on the 24th of December.</i>
</p><p>
***</p><p>Saturday at the teahouse was busy.  It was a rainy Christmas Eve and the crowd inside was composed mainly of customers trying to get out of the rain.  Even with his height, Cole had trouble finding Miller in the crowd.  He felt a tap on his shoulder and when he turned, Miller was there smiling up at him.  “Hullo Mackenzie – I'm so sorry about my delay in escorting you.  Mother had an “emergency” last week.”  Cole laughed with the quotation marks he heard clearly in Miller’s speech.  “Come, we have a table over here.”</p><p>
Cole followed Miller through the restaurant to a private table.  “Does your mother often have “emergencies”?  Cole made sure to mimic the enunciation, which produced a smile from Miller.</p><p>
“You know how they can be.  Her latest charity had a life-or-death tragedy.  I believe it involved the caviar not being delivered on time.”</p><p>
“Actually, I don’t know how they can be at all.  Aunt Jo took me under her wing when I was 15.  I’m not from here.” Suddenly he felt like he didn’t belong.  He didn’t consider his life on the farm something to hide, but he wasn’t always forthcoming with the information.  It was still hard to talk about why he’d moved in with Aunt Jo.  Miller raised his eyebrows at the matter-of-fact way Cole spoke of his formative years.</p><p>
“Really?” His companion didn’t seem put off by this admission.  He seemed genuinely inquisitive. “What was it like?”</p><p>
They spent the next hour chatting about Avonlea and Cole’s life before moving in with Josephine Barry.  He ended up telling Miller about how lonely and repressed he felt as an artist in small-town Avonlea.  Miller’s parents were supporters of the Victoria School of Art.  Cole was intrigued.  “So, art is in your family?”</p><p>
Miller responded honestly.  “Well, for women yes.”  He took a breath and asked Cole, “So, will you be traveling back to your quaint little town for Christmas, or will you be part of the celebration at Jo’s tomorrow?”</p><p>
Cole was surprised.  “I don’t travel to Avonlea any more than I need to.  Am I to understand you will be at Aunt Jo’s party?”  He cocked an eyebrow, patient for his answer.</p><p>
Miller gave him a small grin and laid a sum of money on the table.  “Mother has fallen under the spell of Josephine’s progressive ways and we have been invited to spend the holiday with Jo’s family.  Shall I walk you home?”</p><p>
He stood and handed Cole his hat before setting his own on his head. Together they walked out into the steadily worsening rain, heading back toward Jo’s manor.</p><p>
“This must be what it’s like to find a kindred spirit.” Cole mused to himself.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>